A review by hauntedchaossandwich
A Court This Cruel and Lovely by Stacia Stark

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

 Overall, I say the book is not terrible but I gave it a generous amount of stars. The pacing in this book was all over the place. Nothing would happen for a long time, then something interesting would happen and then it would go back to being dull. The book had tons of potential for a badass heist mission in the castle, but it fell flat. I also did not like how the last hour of the book felt super rushed. The relationship between the MMC and FMC was super undeveloped. I still do not understand how they fell for each other because it was not fleshed out. It felt like they were suddenly “in love” with each other. Also Lorian was extremely possessive to the point I disliked him at the end (for the wrong reasons). I hate to say it but I feel this story would have been better without the romance.
I did enjoy the worldbuilding and magic system of this book. The book left off on a pretty decent cliff-hanger. Despite my criticisms, I will probably read another book of this series in the future.